In the middle of the bustling city, a man was standing alone, staring at the non-stop crowd. Cars were racing through the streets, trucks were passing by with their thundering sound, and people were rushing from here to there, busy with their daily concerns. Despite all that, he remained where he was, not moving. He was stopping time for himself, determined to make a decision that he had been running away from his whole life.
Long moments passed before a speeding car approached him, almost cutting through the air with its high speed. He did not show any reaction, but continued to stand in the middle of the road, as if he could not see what was around him. He knew what was going to happen, but he had no choice but to try to escape.
The car was approaching, and his eyes focused on the screen of his phone that rang in front of him. Flashing lights were coming from the phone, but the man ignored the sound. He had nothing else to say or do. His heart was somewhere else, far away from the pain and wounds that had accumulated over the years.
"Others, I can be free from my regrets..." he whispered to himself while smiling a strange smile, as if bidding himself farewell from this world.
When the car ran over him, he was smiling. He had finally reached a moment that was the end of everything and, at the same time, the beginning of something else.
People quickly gathered around the man, their voices overlapping
Between screaming and begging. The air was filled with panic and noise, as they tried to wake him up. Some of them called an ambulance and others knelt down next to him, shaking his body and shouting:
"Hey, can you hear me? Stay conscious, please!"
But the man was still, his eyes almost closed, his western smile still painted on his blood-soaked face.
He whispered in a low voice, almost audible:
"No...I just want to die."
And at the moment when tears began to flow from the eyes of those around him, another voice appeared, surging through the sadness and confused voice that permeated the place, coming from behind the crowd. It was a girl's voice, filled with anxiety and fear.
"He is my brother... Yakuya! Yakuya!" the girl shouted as she pushed her body into the crowd, her eyes red from crying.
Time stopped for a moment. The girl was wearing simple clothes, but her face was distorted between fear and pain. Her attempts to reach her brother were in vain. She whispered while trying to control her tears:
"No...You can't leave us like this, Yakuya. Please wake up!"
Everyone was silent and the street was filled with heavy silence.
Five years ago
Somewhere surrounded by mountains, and in a house, life was going on quietly. In this house there were two sisters who lived harmoniously with their grandmother, but sometimes, disagreement would creep between them like a breeze.
In a simple room, the little girl Noriko was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her older sister who was sleeping peacefully. Mitsuko, her older sister, was fast asleep after a long day, dreaming of rest.
"Mitsuko... Mitsuko, get up!" Noriko called, moving quickly around the bed.
Mitsuko slowly opened her eyes and yawned deeply. "Let me sleep, Noriko…" she whispered softly, trying to fall back asleep.
But Noriko wasn't going to give up that easily. "Who told me to wake him up last night?" She said as she jumped up on the bed to sit next to her.
Mitsuko responded angrily, throwing her sister away, as if trying to return to her own world. "I take back my words, just let me sleep."
Noriko, who was not going to accept defeat easily, said defiantly: "You are a lazy big sister!" Then she threw the pillow at her with all her might.
Mitsuko closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath as she returned to her comfortable position on the pillow. "Get out and close the door!" She said defiantly, as if she didn't want anyone to bother her.
But Noriko didn't go far, She was always trying to find a way to spark something new in this quiet day.
As the afternoon came, Mitsuko was still lying on her bed, deep in sleep. Suddenly, the phone's ringing interrupted the silence of the room. She slowly extended her hand, trying to hold the phone without opening her eyes because she was very tired, her hands were shaking from extreme sleepiness. In the total darkness around her, she wasn't quite aware of what she was doing.
Calmly, she grabbed something within her reach, not noticing that it wasn't the phone. Her hand hit her shoe, so she took it without thinking. She put the shoe to her ear, trying to talk through it as if it were a phone.
"Mitsuko... who's with me? Why isn't anyone answering?" She said in a confused voice, not realizing her mistake. The words came out slowly, her eyes still closed.
The silence that prevailed in the place increased with every passing second, as the shoe on her ear did not answer her questions.
Suddenly, the grandmother quietly opened the door, and then turned on the light in the room, making the bright light fill the place and interrupting the silence. Mitsuko was still lying on her bed, drowsiness pressing down on her eyelids.
"Mitsuko, what's so lazy? It's already noon!" The grandmother said in a firm voice, but she paused for a moment when she looked at her granddaughter, who was sitting in bed as if addressing something.
Grandma's eyes widened slightly in surprise when she saw Mitsuko talking to her shoe. Grandma smiled cautiously, then said: "Is there an important conversation between you and your shoes? I apologize for interrupting."
Mitsuko, who was in a semi-comatose state of sleep, slowly opened her eyes, then looked at her hand in amazement. A moment of silence, before she realized that she was holding her shoe, not the phone as she thought. She looked at the shoe on her ear, then at Grandma, and back at her hand again.
"Oh... Oh my God... That's not the phone!" She whispered, blushing with embarrassment, while the grandmother watched her with a slight smile.
The grandmother, who was watching Mitsuko closely, said firmly: "Get up now, Mitsuko."
But Mitsuko, still feeling the effects of sleep, sighed and said lazily: "It's a holiday, I don't have school. I want to sleep."
Grandma smiled, but she was adamant: "And if it's a holiday, should we waste it by sleeping? Get up now, don't waste your time."
Mitsuko, who was beginning to realize that Grandma wouldn't leave her alone, looked at her boredly and said, "Okay, I'll get up, but close the door so I can change."
Grandma smiled slightly, then quietly closed the door and headed out of the room.